Stop dissecting and start feeling

Despite writing a 34-verse poem on a large Valentine’s card when we were engaged over 20 years ago, my wife will tell you that love-poetry is not really one of my strengths. (I don’t think I’ve attempted it since). Although that puts me at a significant disadvantage when it comes to interpreting Eastern love-poems like the Song of Solomon, I’m going to press on with a third post on the subject.

In a previous post we noted how appreciating the Eastern love-poem genre stops us dissecting the text with analytical Western minds and starts us feeling the Song with impressionable Eastern hearts. This produces questions such as:

 “What impression is this intended to make upon me? What emotion does this evoke?  What feeling is this calling me to experience or enjoy?” And as this is a Christ-centered song, especially ask, “What emotion is it calling me to feel towards Christ?” and also, “What is it saying about Christ’s feelings towards me?”

But what does that look like in practice? Well, here goes with some of the emotions evoked in me and impressions made upon me as I tried to read the Song as it was intended to be read (or sung). To keep it simple, I’ve restricted myself to one word, the one word that sprang to mind as I “felt” the text.

Passion: The relationship is not cold but warm and affectionate (1:2).

Desire: Each longs for the other with unembarrassed anticipation and expectation (1:2; 1:4; 2:10).

Sensory: All the senses are stimulated - Taste (1:2,4), smell (1:3,12), touch (1:13), sight (9-10), etc.

Joy: Superabounding happiness is experienced when together (1:4).

Grace: There is amazing grace in the King loving one so unlovely (1:5-6).

Imaginative: Much creative thought is put into expressing and articulating this love (1:9).

Generosity: Giving is more prominent than getting (1:11).

Admiration: Lots of expressions of appreciation (1:15-16). “O my love” occurs 9 times in the book, and “My beloved” 31 times.

Public: This is not a shameful, furtive, secret love but an unashamed, unafraid public love (2:4).

Intimacy: There is closeness not distance, familiarity not aloofness (2:6; 4:5; 7:3).

Threats: There are significant threats to the relationship (2:15).

Change: The relationship has its ups and downs, its peaks and troughs (3:1; 5:6).

Mutuality: This is not one-sided but two-sided. He initiates and she responds; then she initiates and he responds.

Beauty: Her stunning beauty is described at length in chapter 4, and His in chapter 5.

Innocence: He describes her repeatedly as a dove, a bird renowned for its loyal purity (4:1).

Radiance: Her perfect shining smile is described in unforgettably graphic terms (4:2).

Health: They are in the prime of life, healthy, vigorous, energetic, and full of color (4:3).

Dignity: Her deportment, bearing, posture, and jewelry are elegant and dignified (4:4).

Discretion: The descriptions of intimacy stop at an appropriate point: the rest is private (4:5).

Excitement: They are excited by and captivated with one another. The briefest look thrills and enraptures (4:9).

Overwhelming: Sometimes the love is too much to take in (6:5).

Unique: This love is like no other; it is incomparable (6:8-9).

Fruitful: Pregnancy is described in agricultural terms usually associated with fertility (7:2).

Dependence: She needs him and leans upon him (8:5).

Jealous: Their passionate love will not tolerate alternatives or opposition (8:6).

Durable: Their love lasts and outlasts all the tests of time (8:7).

Unbuyable: Money cannot buy you this kind of love (8:7).

More sensitive hearts and more poetic minds could produce a much longer and richer list. But I hope you can begin to see the difference between this approach and the allegorical approach that tries to find a deeper spiritual meaning in every apple, nut, flower, lip and breast.

And I hope that this approach might also help move you beyond simply using the Song to improve your own “earthly” marriage. Yes, there’s much here for our own marriages; but there’s much more for our spiritual and eternal marriage. Why not go through the list, or read the book and make your own list, and seek much more of the reality of this marriage to the King of Love in your own life.

Tomorrow I’ll suggest some sermon outlines that bring together some of these words in preachable form.